Issue 3, 2017

Large scale energy storage using multistage osmotic processes: approaching high efficiency and energy density

Abstract

With the increase in ocean levels due to global warming, there is a desperate need for clean and renewable energy at this time, more than ever before. Although the economic front of technologies, such as wind and solar power, has shown improvement, the fact remains that these energy sources are intermittently available in nature. This calls for a reliable energy storage technology that can bridge the gap between the supply and demand of electricity, leading us to a world driven by clean and renewable energy. Here, we propose a process for storing electrical energy using engineered osmosis. To store electrical energy, a salty solution is separated into brine and fresh water streams using modified reverse osmosis. When there is a demand for electricity, the chemical potential is converted back into electrical work by mixing the solutions using a modified version of pressure retarded osmosis. With modelling and simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed process can achieve round trip efficiencies of 50–60% and energy densities equivalent to that of a 500 m high pumped-hydro plant. The results demonstrate a promising process to store electrical energy, which, unlike pumped-hydro, is unconstrained by geography.

Graphical abstract: Large scale energy storage using multistage osmotic processes: approaching high efficiency and energy density

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Oct 2016
Accepted
13 Feb 2017
First published
14 Feb 2017

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2017,1, 599-614

Large scale energy storage using multistage osmotic processes: approaching high efficiency and energy density

D. Bharadwaj and H. Struchtrup, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2017, 1, 599 DOI: 10.1039/C6SE00013D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements